Deng Xunmei, who was frustrated in the Central Plains, had no choice but to return to her hometown Lianzhou and pass by Langzhou. Zhou Xingfeng had heard of Deng Xunmei's fame for a long time, so he decided to recruit Deng Xunmei. However, Zhou Xingfeng was very unhappy when he saw Deng Xunmei's appearance so ugly and hunchbacked. Zhou Xingfeng did not value Deng Xunmei, but just gave him a free job in the inn. Deng Xunmei was unsuccessful again, and was very dissatisfied with this and often complained.

Li Fang was already in charge of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Once he was on a mission to the Wuping Army in Hunan, he came to visit his former friend Deng Xunmei. He had not seen his classmates for many years, so he was naturally very moved. Both sides talked at night, recited poems and lyrics, and drank for several days.

Zhou Xingfeng, who was originally suspicious and suspicious, certainly would not ignore Deng Xunmei and Li Fang's close private relationship. Zhou Xingfeng speculated that Deng Xunmei, who was dissatisfied, would definitely sue Li Fang for his illegitimate complaints and say bad things about him. This situation was beyond tolerance for Zhou Xingfeng! Not long after, Zhou Xingfeng found a reason to demote Deng Xunmei to an official in the Yisu Field.

But even so, Zhou Xingfeng's jealousy towards Deng Xunmei could not be eliminated. Zhou Xingfeng wanted to kill Deng Xunmei, but was afraid of causing dissatisfaction among the entire Hunan literati, so he came up with a more vicious move. So on a dark night, Deng Xunmei was preparing to sleep in the inn, and suddenly broke into a group of masked robbers from outside, claiming to be nearby bandits, and immediately killed Deng Xunmei. On the surface, Deng Xunmei was killed by bandits, but many people know that Zhou Xingfeng was the mastermind behind the scenes.

There was also He Jingshan, a Jinshi at the end of the Tang Dynasty. He was quite talented and came to Hunan to avoid war. At that time, Wang Kui was in charge of the Wuping Army, so he was appointed as the chief secretary by Wang Kui. Relying on Wang Kui's power, He Jingshan often despised Zhou Xingfeng and had a very bad relationship with Zhou Xingfeng. After Zhou Xingfeng was in charge of the Wuping Army, he certainly would not let He Jingshan go easily with his vengeful personality. Zhou Xingfeng so he found a reason to transfer He Jing to Yiyang as the county magistrate.

Of course, the county magistrate was not the real destination arranged by Zhou Xingfeng to He Jingshan. Zhou Xingfeng quickly listed another charge and ordered people to throw He Jingshan into the surging river water of the Xiangjiang River. Before throwing it away, he asked someone to say to He Jingshan: "You once assisted Wang Kui, but now Wang Kui is dead. Please go to the river and tell Longjun that Wang Kui will not come back!"

Zhou Xingfeng's rule of law was terrifying and brutal. In addition to punishing subordinate civil and military officials and generals too severely, he also sentencing ordinary civil and civilians who violated the law too severely and sentenced to death at any time. Zhou Xingfeng felt that he had to use heavy punishments in troubled times, which made the officials and people in Hunan very afraid of him.

There are both advantages and disadvantages in using heavy punishments in troubled times. Although the military and civilians in Hunan were spared from the pain of war, they had to endure the suffering of heavy punishment. With Zhou Xingfeng's personality, most people dare not come forward to advise. In addition to his wife, the wife of Yunguo Yan, he could also force him to advise him.

This wife of Yan is a well-known woman. She is no less famous in Hunan than Ma Xifan's wife Peng. Yan's ancestral home is Shaanxi, and her father Yan Guangyuan was once a judge of Chu State. Yan Guangyuan knew heroes with a wise eye. Before Zhou Xingfeng was developed, he married Yan to Zhou Xingfeng. Although Yan's appearance was ordinary, he had a strong and decisive personality and was good at managing his livelihood. She was very dissatisfied with Zhou Xingfeng's cruel and severe punishment and wanted to kill him. She often advised Zhou Xingfeng that the use was too strict and would lose the hearts of the people, resulting in no one being willing to follow him.

Zhou Xingfeng was very angry at his wife's intervention in political affairs, and angrily scolded Yan, saying, "What do you women know about this kind of thing?" Yan was very angry when he heard it and said to Zhou Xingfeng, "The tenants in their hometown in the countryside are too expensive and they don't work hard to farm. I ask to supervise them." So he returned to his hometown to guard the countryside in anger and never returned to live in Jiedu Mansion.

As the wife of the governor of the Wuping Army, she actually hid in a thatched hut in the countryside to live a poor life, which made Zhou Xingfeng feel very embarrassed. So Zhou Xingfeng sent people to ask Yan to return to Langzhou many times, but the upper class was rejected by Yan. Yan's refusal to return to Langzhou was regarded as a strong protest to Zhou Xingfeng. Soon after, Yan made another amazing move.

One day, Mrs. Yan brought her family child and her servant back to Langzhou. But she did not come to apologize to Zhou Xingfeng, but paid taxes to Zhou Xingfeng in person. Yan's actions made Zhou Xingfeng very embarrassed and ashamed. He said to Yan: "I am already a governor, why should my wife seek hardships?"

Yan said sarcastically: "Taxes are the finances of the public. As a military governor, you do not pay taxes. How can you set an example for the people? Have you forgotten that you are the right time to be beaten for paying taxes late?"

Of course, Zhou Xingfeng ignored Yan's sarcasm and planned to force Yan to stay in Langzhou. However, Mrs. Yan's personality was very strong and refused to obey, saying, "You killed too much. I am afraid that something will happen one day. The thatched houses in the countryside will be easier to hide!" After hearing this, Zhou Xingfeng was shy and angry, but he was a hero after all, and it was impossible to attack his wife.

However, after Mrs. Yan's tossing, Zhou Xingfeng seemed to have also awakened. After that, he was a little relaxed in sentencing and sentenced cases, and finally he restrained his willful killings. In addition to relying on force and power, literati governance was also very important, and Zhou Xingfeng also realized this.

Li Guanxiang, a scholar from Guizhou, was named as his name. He was good at observing the astronomical phenomena and predicting the future. When Liu Yan was in power, Li Guanxiang was appointed as the chief secretary of Wuping's army. When Ma Xichong and Ma Xi'e brothers were killed, Li Guanxiang had foresighted predictions about the decline of Chu, so he persuaded Liu Yan to plot against Changsha and occupy Hunan. After Zhou Xingfeng ascended the throne, he immediately promoted Li Guanxiang to the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi, and Li Guanxiang became the number one aide in Wuping's army.

But it is absolutely not easy to do things under Zhou Xingfeng's hands. Zhou Xingfeng has a cruel personality and is suspicious and suspicious. Even his most trusted subordinates may be killed at any time. Li Guanxiang is very smart. In order to win Zhou Xingfeng's trust and favor, he lives a very frugal life in a low-key manner. He sleeps in the sun, uses rice paper as a bed tent and rice paper as a bed quilt.

Although many people can see at a glance that Li Guanxiang is deliberately making a show, this move is very consistent with Zhou Xingfeng's wishes. Li Guanxiang thus became a confidant minister around Zhou Xingfeng. Whenever there were major military and political matters to make decisions, Zhou Xingfeng would listen to Li Guanxiang's opinions in advance and then make decisions.

Although Zhou Xingfeng had killed such as Deng Xunmei and He Jingshan, it was because they were angry and disobeyed Zhou Xingfeng. Zhou Xingfeng still dared to use those literati who were truly loyal to him and supported him.

Of course, not all literati in Hunan are as attached to the flames as Li Guanxiang and are good at pursuing the enemy. Xu Zhongya was one of the eighteen bachelors of Tiance in Chu. After the fall of Chu, the eighteen bachelors of Tiance in the eighteen bachelors of Tiance in the state of Chu.

It was declared disbanded. Some of the eighteen bachelors had already died of illness, while others died in the internal struggle of the Ma brothers. There were very few survivors, and Xu Zhongya was one of the few survivors.

When Ma Xifan was in power, Xu Zhongya tactfully advised Ma Xifan not to live too luxuriously, but Ma Xifan just listened to it. After Ma Xiguang succeeded to the throne, Xu Zhongya expected the arrival of troubled times, so she simply resigned from office and went home, stayed in a seclusion life.

Zhou Xingfeng also heard of Xu Zhongya, but he did not understand Xu Zhongya's true talent. Zhou Xingfeng only symbolically invited Xu Zhongya out and gave him a position as a judge of the Jiedu, which was of course incomparable to Li Guanxiang. Xu Zhongya was a self-proclaimed noble and arrogant person who contemptuously rejected the position of the judge and said: "Zhou Xingfeng was once my subordinate, how can I be his official now?" Xu Zhongya pretended to be sick and was bedridden and did not accept Zhou Xingfeng's appointment.

After Zhou Xingfeng learned about it, he was very angry, but he did not kill him like Pan Shusi. Zhou Xingfeng found a reason and sent Xu Zhongya to Shaozhou. Soon after, Zhou Xingfeng decided to use Xu Zhongya and recall Xu Zhongya back to Langzhou to be an official. However, Xu Zhongya was a literati who refused to follow the power and relied on the powerful.

One day, Zhou Xingfeng's birthday was on Zhou Xingfeng's birthday. Officials from all walks of life in Hunan came to congratulate him. Zhou Xingfeng was very proud and showed off to Xu Zhongya: "Since I have also been in charge of the three prefectures in Hunan, the neighbors from all directions are very afraid of me!" Xu Zhongya smiled and said: "There are Taibao in the territory under the jurisdiction of Shizhong, and Sikong everywhere are everywhere. Of course, the neighbors from all directions are afraid!" Wang Kui, when Zhou Xingfeng was in the army, he once abducted official positions in order to win people's hearts and consolidate his territory. Therefore, many generals were often named Taibao or Sikong. Xu Zhongya naturally used this to mock Zhou Xingfeng.

At a banquet, everyone was drinking. Taibao and Sikong were screaming, and the scene was really funny. Xu Zhongya did not control her eloquence and laughed and said, "I didn't cut off my tongue on May 5, so I made the title wrong!" Zhou Xingfeng finally got angry, and the consequences were very serious. Xu Zhongya was deprived of her official position and was exiled to Shaozhou again. However, Xu Zhongya was so disobedient to Zhou Xingfeng, but in the end she saved her life.

The previous killing of Deng Xunmei and He Jingshan has greatly affected Zhou Xingfeng's image and reputation among the literati of Wuping Army. Literature like Xu Zhongya is quite famous in Hunan, and killing him will only damage his image and reputation. There is no need for Zhou Xingfeng to start a massacre for a person who is powerless and poses no threat to him.

Time flies, and in the fourth year when Zhou Xing was in charge of Hunan, the Later Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains suddenly changed. Chai Rong of the Later Zhou Dynasty won victory after victory in the war against the Southern Tang and soon seized most of the territory of the Southern Tang in Huainan. Li Jing, the literary emperor of the Southern Tang, seemed helpless in the face of the ferocious Zhou army as fierce as a tiger and wolf. No matter how he dispatched troops, he could not defeat Chai Rong.

In March of the fifth year of Xiande, the three-year war between the Later Zhou and the Southern Tang was declared to be over. The result of this war was that Li Jing went to tribute the emperor, became the king of Jiangnan, and praised Chai Rong as the vassal. His status was equal to that of Hunan, Wu Yue, and Southern Tang, all the territory north of the Yangtze River belonged to the Later Zhou Dynasty. The Southern Tang also paid hundreds of thousands of gold and silver to the Later Zhou Dynasty every year.

If you want to know what happens next, please listen to the next breakdown!
Chapter completed!